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The 15th annual EAPCCO general meeting (25-30 August) included delegates from 11 EAPCCO member countries – Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – as well as representatives from INTERPOL.

In his opening remarks, Vice-President of the Seychelles, Danny Faure commended EAPCCO for how is has brought regional and national police forces together to enhance the security of the region.

The participants drafted an implementation plan for combating human and drug trafficking, terrorism, maritime piracy, and financial crimes. Based on recommendations from INTERPOL in the area of maritime piracy, the participating countries agreed to cooperate and share intelligence on piracy cases in order to identify the leaders, organizers and financiers of pirates attacks, and also agreed on the creation of Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) to accelerate maritime piracy case resolution.

Other key decisions taken during the meeting were the admission of Comoros as the newest EAPCCO member country; signing of EAPCCO legal agreements; the endorsement of a proposal to create an African police force; and the establishment of an Information and Communication Technology Experts Working Group.

Additionally, the EAPCCO Council of Ministers urged the Council of Police Chiefs to:

Strengthen liaisons with national, regional and international stakeholders;

Commission a police expert working group on radicalization and extremism, and develop strategies to combat the threat posed by such acts;

Encourage the remaining member countries to operationalize the EAPCCO Motor Vehicle Clearance Certificate;

Strengthen Centers of Excellence as a way of building capacity in the region;

Remind member countries to honour their financial obligations to the Regional Centre for Small Arms (RECSA).